The dispute between Ferrari and Mazda regarding the ownership of the ‘Luce’ name is heating up, as the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer insists that it holds the right to use the name, which it intends to use on its first-ever fully electric car.
That is despite the fact that Mazda trademarked the Luce name in Japan roughly three weeks after Ferrari announced details of its upcoming Luce electric car. The Japanese automaker first used the Luce name in 1966 on a series of high-end sedans that were produced until 1991 and were also available in the US for a while under the Mazda 929 badge.
The last time Mazda referenced the Luce was in 2017, when it unveiled the Vision Coupe Concept; at the time, the Japanese automaker said the spectacular design study was a “respectful node to its heritage” that includes the 1969 Mazda Luce Rotary Coupe.
Ferrari Trademarked the ‘Luce’ Name with the WIPO in September 2025
In the first public reaction since Mazda’s trademark filing, Ferrari stresses that it holds every right to the name, which means both “light” and “electricity” in Italian—the latter used colloquially to mean “power,” especially when referring to utility bills.
“Ferrari holds the right to use the ‘Ferrari Luce’ trademark internationally, by virtue of its registration under international law. As always, Ferrari carried out prior searches, which did not identify any active third-party rights in conflict with ours,” the automaker’s said in a statement issued to CarExpert.
How was Mazda able to trademark the name in its home market, then? That’s a good question, and it all hinges on whether Ferrari filed a trademark for Luce in Japan or not. Since Mazda managed to register the Luce name in its home market, it means that it was up for grabs.
The situation is different depending on the market. We’ve checked the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) website and found that Ferrari registered the Luce name on September 12, 2025 for a period of 10 years. Mind you, while WIPO administers international registration systems for 194 countries, national laws determine the final IP rights, meaning that countries have the final say.
No USPTO Trademark Filings Yet from Either Ferrari or Mazda
In the US, for example, the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) website doesn’t list applications for the Luce name from either Ferrari or Mazda. In Europe, however, the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) website lists the ‘Ferrari Luce’ trademark application number 2026000023002 as having been filed in Italy on February 9, 2026.
While this gives Ferrari the right to use the Luce name in the 27 member countries of the European Union, what will happen in other markets? It would be awkward for Ferrari to use different names for its EV in different countries, especially since Japan is a key market for Maranello.
It remains to be seen how this dispute will be solved, but we can’t help but remember another famous dispute that also involved Ferrari, namely the one with Ford Motor Company over the F150 name.
In 2011, Ford sued Ferrari for trademark infringement over the use of the F150 name for Maranello’s Formula 1 car at the time, arguing it diluted their F-150 pickup truck brand. Ferrari resolved the dispute by renaming the car “150 Italia” in celebration of the Italian reunification’s 150th anniversary.
So far in the new dispute between Ferrari and Mazda, it looks as though neither side is willing to let go of the Luce name easily, so we can’t rule out a lawsuit as a way to settle the matter.
